The Red Lantern
We haven’t been able to do a Red Lantern post every year. Cause the albums that earn the Red Lantern are only those on a sent in list of twenty entries, where they occupy the 20th position, and then only get voted for on that twentieth spot that one time. The years when this did not happen at all, we just invented the Bottom Dwellers post. And the reason why, remains the same. We just love the fact somebody out there loves these albums so hard they want other people to know about them. And we are here to help out! If only a tiny little bit.
So, since the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown is a weighted list and not every lovely freak out there sends in their list as a Top 20. Some send more, some send less. But we only count the albums that receive a Number 20 spot on any of the lists sent in as a contender for the Red Lantern. So this year, we have FIVE albums that received only one vote as a Number 20 spot on someone’s list.
A Swarm Of The Sun - An Empire
The Swedish duo is known for their contemplative post metal and thoughtful atmospherics. This is musical melancholy personified by post rock soundscapes so deep and so thorough that it will become this harrowingly beautiful dream. One that rests on the edge of the universe and a nightmare…
Momovudu – Momovudu
We wrote about Momovudu early December and you can read that HERE. "... They creep and crawl into every fiber of your being and will become the air that you breathe. You inhale and exhale along with the drums, the bass and feel so much relief as you float away with those guitar sounds. A sound so huge, dense, thick and pulsating, that the walls that surround you will seem to be alive, grow all sorts of greenery and extend ever more outwards..."
Red Mesa - Partial Distortions
The Red Mesa three hail from Albuquerque, New Mexico and deliver searing stoner metal with sludge tones and a definite nod towards NOLA. Progressive moments and powerful trucking takes these six tracks into a sonic space where the desert sky seems to be falling down...
Season Of The Witch - Vol. 2
When you open an album with a Judy Garland snippet you are immediately a class act in my book! And Season Of The Witch continues to be classy by taking their proto sound into absolute classic territory. Blues, proto, psych, doom and that West Virginian occult touch has you longing for this season to be forever...
Slash – Orgy Of The Damned
The Guns 'N Roses guitarist's second solo album is filled with blues covers and guest singers. All odes to the blues masters that gripped him when he was just a young boy. Featuring vocalists like Beth Hart, Billy Gibbons, Paul Rodger and Iggy Pop. The last one turning Awful Dream into one of the most exciting tracks on this fine album. And so does Chris Stapleton for Oh Well. And even though the maestro dislikes instrumental guitar albums, he decided to stick a pretty good instrumental Slash's Metal Chestnut at the every end. Nothing bad about this at all...
